The Magnificent Seven Samurai: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''Chris''': There's a job for six men, watching over a village, south of the border.

So you're one of a group of farmers whose village is [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|under attack]] by a gang of remorseless bandits. None of you know how to fight, so you leave to hire a group of warriors who are willing to defend you for the pittance you can pay, plus meals. So you come back with seven guys and... hey, Wait a minute, haven't we seen this somewhere before?

 

 

Because ''[[The Seven Samurai]]'' contains many plot elements which are not exclusive to Japanese culture, it's easy to shift the basic narrative around and still get a workable movie angle. In fact, it's such a classically popular example of a narrative that many filmmakers don't even bother being subtle in the process of [[Homage]]- there's a lot more movies out there [[Cast Calculus|with exactly seven heroes]] doing this kind of plot than you'd expect.

The trope title and [[Trope Namer|namers]] are ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' (''Shichinin no samurai'') and ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'', the latter of which is famous for both transferring the Kurosawa classic to the Old West (with Kurosawa's blessing) and being a classic in its own right. (A trivial note: ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' was originally released in the USA as ''The Magnificent Seven''; the English title was changed to a direct translation of the Japanese title later to avoid confusion with the remake.)

 

 

 

 

See also [[Training the Peaceful Villagers]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

 

** Correction: Three (or four in ''[[Dragon Age]]'') save the galaxy/world, the rest patiently slack in the base.

*** There are some all-out NPC battles in Dragon Age, and the NPC character types still (partially) fit. Alistair is, arguably, [[The Hero]] who makes the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] {{spoiler|either by giving his life to kill the archedemon, or giving up his freedom to become king}}, The Lancer is [[Token Evil Teammate]] Morrigan, Sten is [[The Stoic]] and thus, also, [[The Quiet One]] who is also a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]], Zevran is the (semi) [[Reluctant Warrior]] and [[Lovable Traitor]] who joins you after you defeat his band of assasin [[Tricksters]], Wynne is [[The Obi-Wan]], Leliana is [[Naive Newcomer]] {{spoiler|so she says}} who likes to [[Pet the Dog]], and Oghren is the [[Boisterous Bruiser]] [[Comic Relief]]. Shale shares the [[Deadpan Snarker]] with Morrigan, [[The Big Guy]] with Sten, and proves to be a very sardonic [[Comic Relief]] alternative to Oghren.

*** If you see Tali and Liara as both being Smart Guys in different fields, then Garrus could be the Young Guy. Shepard becomes his mentor, after all, and his character development reflects what he picks up from your own behavior as a Paragon or Renegade.

*** The bulk of ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' is basically assembling an entire 10-person team (12 with the [[Downloadable Content|DLC]]) ''Magnificent Seven''-style, with the added wrinkle of getting said team loyal to you and upgrading your ship and weapons before the main mission of going through the Omega-4 Relay. Though it ''is'' possible for people to die during the Suicide Mission, your primary goal is to take out the Collector base and bring everyone back alive.

*** Carter - [[The Hero]]

*** Noble Six - [[The Lancer]]/[[The Sixth Ranger]]

*** Jun - [[Friendly Sniper]]

*** Auntie Dot - [[Smart Guy]]

* [[The Western]] chapter in ''[[Live a Live]]'' has a few elements of this.

* ''[[Throne of Darkness]]'' was inspired by the concept.

* The Greil Mercenaries of the ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius]]'' duology; it numbered seven members at least initially.

 

* During the "That Which Redeems" [[Story Arc]] from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', Torg tries to set one of these up after the Dimension of Lame summons/kidnaps him into protecting them from [[Demonic Invaders]]. Unfortunately, all the people he recruits ''come from'' the Dimension of Lame and ... well, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|it's called that for a reason]].

* ''[[No Need for Bushido]]'' does this and specifically points out that they have seven samurai (if you count [[Those Two Guys]])

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Wakfu]]'s'' fifth episode does exactly this, down to the title ("''The Magnificent Five''"). Though, to be honest, it actually is more of a parody of this trope, subverting most plot points common to other examples (the ending, for one).

* ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' has the episode "Bounty Hunters". It even mentions Kurosawa in the opening.

* ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]'' had a very deliberate [[Shout-Out]] to this in the form of "The Magnificent Kiwi." When you're dealing with a [[Space Western]], this plot's going to show up.

** Also, according to [[Word of God|series creator Robert Mandell]], this trope was also the inspiration for the series' entire premise, in the form of Waldo and Zozo contacting Earth to help them defeat [[God Save Us From the Queen|the Queen of the Crown]] and her [[Evil Empire]].

* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' has an episode where the five crew members are called by a little boy to save their playground from a garbage man intent on turning it into a landfill. The boy is under the impression that they are heroes instead of actors, and the LilyMu crew is under the impression that it's all a publicity gig!

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Plots]]

[[Category:Whole-Plot Reference]]